Randhawa eyes good finish at tied-10th in Hong Kong

HONG KONG - Jyoti Randhawa overcame a mid-round lapse when he bogeyed both the eighth and ninth holes to recover with a three-under 67 that put him in tied tenth place at the end of the third round in the UBS Hong Kong Open golf at the Fanling layout here Saturday.

Randhawa moved up nicely from overnight 22nd to 10th and can look forward to a top-10.

Randhawa was the best Indian, as he overtook an error-hit S.S.P. Chowrasia, who at the midway stage was tied 12th. Chowrasia slipped down the ladder to tied 46th with a three-over 73.

Rahil Gangjee (68) moved to tied 33rd, while Shiv Kapur (72) and Jeev Milkha Singh (70) were tied 50th.

Frenchman Grgory Bourdy produced a classy putting performance to card a bogey-free seven under par 63 and establish a two stroke lead heading into the final round. Joint overnight leader Bourdy raced to 16-under par with one of the best rounds of the third day to pull clear of playing partner Robert-Jan Derksen, who dropped just one shot during a 65 that left him on 14 under par.

Last year’s runner-up and The Race To Dubai candidate Rory McIlroy battled to also post a hard fought 65, however he faces a five shot deficit heading into Sunday on 11 under par.

A congested top of the leaderboard also contains Peter Lawrie (66), Miguel Angel Jimenez (63), Francesco Molinari (66) and defending champion Lin Wen-tang (67).

Randhawa opened with birdies on first and third and then played steady before back-to-back bogeys on eighth and ninth set him back. He came back on the back nine with three bi9rdies in four holes from 10th to 13th, as he birdied the 10th, 12th and 13th. Then he finished the day with five pars for a 67.

“I think even if I didn’t hit the ball as well as the past two days, I putted really well today,” said Randhawa. “That has been lacking throughout. I got my strokes back together. Hopefully I’ll do well. I like the weather today as it’s always better to play in a cooler temperature than hot.”

Gangjee had three birdies against one bogey, while Chowrasia started bogey-bogey and never recovered. He had two birdies on third and 15th, but also dropped more bogeys on seventh and a double bogey on 10th in his 73.

Kapur had a roller-coaster of a day with four birdies, two bogeys and two double bogeys in 72, while Jeev had three birdies in the first seven holes and then three bogeys and no more birdies after that for a 70.